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Side effects of venlafaxine

Venlafaxine (Effexor, Effexor XR) is an anti-depression and anti-anxiety
medication. The drug is affecting the pain (increasing the pain tolerance) and
it might be used to treat clinical neuropathic pain.

The most common side effects of venlafaxine are gastrointestinal
problems: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, anorexia, abdominal pain
and flatulence. The medication affects the nervous system, causing
both therapeutic and side effects. Patients frequently report dizziness,
tiredness, sleeping problems, nervousness, anxiety, depression and decreased
libido. Sometimes, venlafaxine might cause seizures, and the manufacturer
recommends stopping the therapy in those patients. Antidepressants (including
venlafaxine) often affect the sleep, causing sleep abnormalities. Patients may
experience insomnia, somnolence, abnormal dreams or other sleep issues. Respiratory side effects are quite common and they include cases
of pharyngitis, sinusitis and yawning, and rarely pneumonitis .

Venlafaxine is known to elevate the blood pressure,
resulting in hypertension, and the condition is dose dependant. The medication
increases the heart beat and pulse rate and may lead to cardio- and
cerebro-vascular conditions. In regular therapeutic doses the use of this medication
might lead to angina pectoris, angioedema, bradycardia, hypotension,
arrhythmias, cerebral ischemia, cold feet or hands, and to severe heart
problems, including infarction, coronary artery disease, congestive heart
failure, heart arrest, etc. Many venlafaxine patients experience sweating, and some
acne, contact dermatitis, pruritus, rash and redness of the skin,
eczema,
striae and some other skin problems. Patients treated with venlafaxine often report abnormal
bleeding, usually ecchymosis (bruises). Alopecia (hair loss) is one of the known side effects of this
drug, and the condition is reversible. New hair starts 2 to 4 weeks
after the
stop of venlafaxine.

Use of venlafaxine is affecting male and female sexual
function, and is connected to the both increased and decreased libido, abnormal
ejaculation, impotence and abnormal female orgasm. Asthenia (body weakness) is often reported in treated
patients, and also headache, flu syndrome and some accidental injuries. The most severe muscular problem connected to venlafaxine is
rhabdomyolysis. Psychiatric side effects could be
hallucinations,
mania, delusions, pschysosis or suicidal and homicidal ideas, depression
or
paranoid reactions. Ocular side effects are rare, most common are blurred vision
and angle-closure glaucoma. Venlafaxine is known to affect the body weight. Some of the
patients lose and other gain weight, during the treatment. The
medication might
be the reason for some metabolic changes, increase of cholesterol,
lipids,
enzymes in the blood and increase or decrease of blood sugar. Use of this drug is connected to the toxic hepatitis and it
may have some effects to the endocrine system, causing galactorrhea and
affecting the thyroid hormones.

If the medication is stopped suddenly there is a great
chance that the patient would develop withdrawal symptoms. Severity of symptoms
depends on the dose and length of the venlafaxine treatment and those usually
includes headache, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tremor, agitation,
anxiety. Symptoms usually last up to 48 hours after the last dose of
venlafaxine and are improved once the therapy continues.